Because of safety concerns, particularly in bathrooms and showers which may have wet floors that make it possible for a person to fall, and concern for physically impaired individuals, it has become common to provide safety railings often called grab bars in bathrooms and around showers and bathtubs. Grab bars are particularly helpful and are frequently required by building codes to aid physically impaired individuals. Applicable building codes include stringent strength requirements. Consequently, grab bar systems now in use are formed from metal such as stainless steel or aluminum in order to have the strength needed to meet code requirements and accordingly are relatively expensive and have decorative and aesthetic limitations. While plastic grab bars have been previously proposed, e.g., formed from a plastic polymer as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,237, it is difficult or impossible for plastic to meet the strength requirements set by building codes and they weaken with age. In addition, the patented device is not suited for use with commercially available tubing. Another problem is the difficulty associated with drilling holes and inserting grab bar mounting screws through a mounting flange often in a location that is beneath or behind the horizontally extending portions of the grab bar support unit. Thus, when a workman attempts to mount a grab bar support unit, he must drill holes and mount screws that are beneath or almost beneath the horizontal part of the grab bar support. This is time consuming, labor intensive, and often results in screws that are cocked to one side.
In view of these and other deficiencies of the prior art, it is one object of the present invention to provide a grab bar mounting assembly that exhibits outstanding performance, is easy to install, is rugged in construction and provides the appealing visual qualities of plastic, yet has the strength of steel so as to meet or exceed building codes, regulatory agency, and industry requirements.
Another object of the invention is to provide improved grab railing mounting hardware that can be readily manufactured from injection molded, thermo-formed or thermo-set plastic resin in any color and yet has the strength of steel.
A further object is to provide an improved mounting assembly for tubular grab railings of modular construction with interchangeable parts that can be readily assembled on site to meet dimensional and design requirements of any particular installation job.
Still another object is to provide a mounting system for tubular grab railings that has a more appealing appearance and better decorative possibilities than grab railings now in commercial use.
Another object is to provide a mounting connector assembly for tubular grab railings that will work with various kinds of commercially available metal or plastic tubing.
Another object is to remove stress on plastic parts and find a way to eliminate the possibility of catastrophic failure due to fracture or cracking of plastic components caused by aging, over-tightening screws or other causes.
Yet another object is to effectively prevent rotation of the tubing sections that extend between the connector assemblies so that the user will have secure support while at the same time facilitating rapid assembly during installation.
A further object is to make a connector assembly easier to clean as well as having a more attractive, yet less expensive cover for the base.
These and other more detailed and specific objects of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following Figures and detailed description which illustrate by way of example but a few of the various forms of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.